WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOWÂ
>>Saint Francis men's volleyball took a straight set loss to No. 3 UC Irvine on Wednesday night.
>>Opposite Nathan Zini (Itasca, Ill./Lake Park) and outside hitter Brady Stump (York, Pa./York Suburban)Â both tallied double-digit kills with 14 and 10, respectively.
>>Libero Peyton Blain (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) led the Red Flash on the defensive side, recording eight digs.
>>Setter Ryan Parker (Long Island, N.Y./Northport) engineered the offense with 30 assists and added on five digs on the defensive side.
TURNING POINTÂ OF THE GAMEÂ
Similar to the season opening match against Ohio State, set one was tightly-contested. Thanks to an offense that recorded a .400Â hitting percentage, the Red Flash held a 20-19 lead late into the set. However, unlike the first match, it was UC Irvine that went on a 6-1 run to win the set, 25-21.
The Anteaters carried that momentum through the last two sets, winning both to take home the match win.
FLASH QUOTES
Head Coach Mike Rumbaugh: "I loved that we raised our level of play from the last match to this one. I was happy with our serving, our blocks got better, and our defense made good touches. What beat us tonight was how much service pressure they put on us. Thanks to head coach David Kniffin and UC Irvine for hosting us."
FLASH MOMENTS
In the second set, UC Irvine jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead and never relinquished the lead.The Red Flash would mount a furious 11-4 run after going down as much as 20-12 midway through the set to make it 24-23. However, Nolan Flexan recorded a kill for match point to give the Anteaters a 25-23 set win.
The third set started out as close as the first set, with the score being 13-14 at one point. UC Irvine would proceed to score five straight points and never looked back. With the score at 23-16, Saint Francis went on 6-1 run to make it as close as 24-22. Just like set two, the Anteaters secured match point to take set three, 25-22.
FLASH NUGGETS
Wednesday night was the second of three matches in a row where Saint Francis faced off against an opponent ranked in the top-10 of the AVCA Coaches Poll. Ohio State was No. 5 in the poll when the Red Flash played them on Monday.
Junior outside hitter Michael Mosbacher (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny)Â made his first collegiate start.
With 30 assists recorded on the night, Parker is now at 1,455 assists. He is 45 away from becoming the fourth player in program history with 1,500 assists.
UP NEXT
The Red Flash will finish up their three-game road trip to start the season at No. 2 Long Beach State on Saturday January 13. First serve is at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST and the action can be followed along with Live Stats.
